Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Custodio.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised in San Diego, CA. I moved to Orange County when I was about three years old and spent my formative years between the two counties. My fondest memories included spending time at the 32nd Street Naval Station at the commissary, the exchange, the driving range or basketball courts on base. As a youth, I discovered one of many hidden talents to be gymnastics. I always wanted to be the Red Power Ranger growing up and my mom enrolled me in gymnastics since I couldn’t sit still and was always bouncing around the house. Once enrolled, the coaches saw talent at a young age and requested me to be on the travel club team and my pursuit of a gold medal began. From then on, I traveled the country in hopes of competing for a spot on Team USA one day. When I turned 11, I had secured a spot on the “Future Stars” national team after competing against the nation’s best. From there, I had the opportunity to train at various invitational camps and eventually found myself in Colorado Springs at the prestigious Olympic Training Center.
Overtime, my rigorous training regimen of six days a week caught up to me and I was plagued with injuries and that thing called puberty. Over time, I had a fractured back, fractured my wrists twice to the start of arthritis in pretty much most of my ligaments, I faced a defining moment in my pursuit to become an Olympian. I pivoted and eventually began coaching the travel club team that I was once part of. All through my years of training, I always had a passion for basketball, skateboarding and fashion, but could never persuade my parents into purchasing pieces from A Bathing Ape (Bape), Billionaire Boys Club or Ice Cream. As I was rounding out my junior year of high school, I decided to start the clothing brand EAK which originally stood for Emulating Abstract Kindred. As a naive kid with pennies to my name, I did my best to slang t-shirts throughout South Orange County in pizza boxes. I thought if I could sell products in pizza boxes, my high school would have no idea what I was up to. As I concluded my Senior year of high school, I thought it would be fun to take a photography class. I recall learning on a Fuji digital camera and during the final exam, my teacher told me I wasn’t paying attention enough to settings/composition and photography wasn’t in my cards. I enrolled at Cal State Fullerton and was solely focused on pushing my brand and shooting skateboarding with some friends.
As I rebranded EAK to Elevating All Kind, sponsoring skateboarders and up and coming artists, I realized that content was a necessity for storytelling and selling products. After having the epiphany that content is “King or Queen” I saved up and decided to purchase my first DSLR that had photo and video capabilities. The rest was kinda history in a sense. I dabbled in creating photo and video content and eventually made a few connections along the way. From interning for Nick Cannon at NCredible entertainment, becoming a PR intern at Etnies, to building my own personal portfolio and contributing to a few skateboarding and street culture publications, I eventually honed in on my passion of shooting strictly skateboarding, music and lifestyle-related content. Aside from my full-time PR career, I’ve recently worked closely with my good friend Ryan Sheckler to launch Sandlot Times. We launched our first season this year and paired it with the release of our first merch collection and media platform. The digital platform showcases moments where we lose track of time and dive into the moment. Along with our episodes, we like to showcase people, ideas and music that inspire us.
For us, our Sandlot is meeting at Ryan’s private skatepark in San Clemente, blasting music, hanging out with close friends and recording clips once the session starts to get started. It’s our safe haven that’s judgment-free and a place where we can be ourselves. The best part is that there are no clocks inside of the skatepark, so time is almost nonexistent when we enter the space. We usually just vibe out, skate for hours on end and you never really know who will pull up to join in on the session!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely wasn’t sunshine and rainbows to get where I’m currently at today. I always felt like I had a chip on my shoulder when it came to creating content. Due to my past, I’ve remained a very competitive person and I tend to get hypercritical of my work even though content is very subjective in a sense. Paired with creative roadblocks along the way and not understanding the business until I found myself in difficult positions at times, I learned to overcome obstacles by taking the leap and trusting myself during the process. From 2016-2017, I felt burnt out creatively and made the decision to shoot more concerts. That timeframe alone was a defining moment for me as I had shot Drake, Kanye West, ASAP Rocky, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Nipsey Hussle, Binorideaux, Future, Roy Woods, DVSN, The Game and more. When the going gets tough, I try my best to always take a deep breath and try to live by the motto “be where your feet are.”
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
These days, aside from my full-time PR career, I think I’m most notably recognized for being the man behind the camera at Sandlot Times. I work closely with Ryan on the daily and most people would probably view me as the random large Filipino dude haha. But in all seriousness, I feel like my hustle, determination and authenticity sets me apart as a friend, business partner, family member and creative. I take pride in what I do and I always try to capture the moment as best as possible. With my content, I want to evoke emotion and make the viewer feel as if they traveled to that very frame of time.
What matters most to you? Why?
My family and friends matter the most to me. The past year shifted my perspective drastically. I learned that time and moments are the only things you don’t get back in life. The money will come and go and materialism is just the ego being spotlit. So when someone’s physical or mental health is in jeopardy, it usually strikes a chord with me because I only want to see loved ones thrive, be happy and healthy. Everything else in life is just the icing on the cake.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Custodiophoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/custodiophoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/custodiophoto
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/custodiophoto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sandlottimes
- Other: https://sandlottimes.com
Image Credits
Drake – Summer Sixteen Tour – Staples Center Kanye West – Saint Pablo Tour – The Forum Nipsey Hussle – Observatory OC Ryan Sheckler
